My Brother's Keeper
by SqueamishAnchovies
Summary: AU: Kyon's sister is an esper! She helps protect the city while keeping her identity a secret. But what what will she do when her brother is the one in danger? One-shot.


I was in third grade when I found out I could boil a glass of water by thinking it. Not just the water, but the glass too. It melted and made a mess. Teacher told me to clean it up, which I did. When Mom asked what I learned in school today, I said we learned how to multiply fractions. We did that too, but I also learned I could melt stuff with my mind.

That was totally cool with me until the call came.

Weeks later, in a really boring geography lesson, I accidentally made the blackboard explode. The fire alarm went off. Teacher sent everyone home early.

After I walked home, the principal called the house, saying it was safe for me to go back to school. Mom drove me there. Sometimes I wish she hadn't.

* * *

"KYON~! Get up, get up, get up!"

I threw open the shades to my big brother's room and jabbed him in the ribs for good measure. The mound of covers rolled away from the light. Kyon groaned. "You're annoying. Go away."

I beamed. As any little sister will tell you, complaints only fuel the fire.

"It's a bright and beautiful morning!"

"Hooray. Can we kill it?"

I took the corner of the covers and tugged my brother onto the floor.

"Better get up for school soon, or Mom's gonna get mad again."

"I'm petrified." He didn't move.

"And don't forget, you promised to watch Super Sentai with me tonight! It's the new episode, and it's gonna be great! TRANS-FORM! Hi-ya, hi-ya!"

"Mm-hmm. Can't miss Super Hentai, no, no."

"No, no! It's Super SENTAI!"

"Right, right...crap, it's that late already?!"

Once Kyon found the alarm clock under his pillow, he kicked me out of the room and slammed the door. Brothers.

"Mom," I called down the stairs, "Kyon's gonna be late again. Can I have his lunchbox?"

* * *

They call themselves the Organization. I don't know much more than that. But as I found out, they run my elementary school, studying the students for any signs of "extra-sensory perception." ESP. They think we're freaks.

On the day I blew up the blackboard, the principal called me into his office to tell me I had The Gift.

Have it, I mean. My abilities won't ever go away. At least, I'm told haven't left any of the others. Which makes me wonder how many others there are. The principal never told me. He only told me I was special, and special people should have special jobs.

_Get a job?_ I thought. _In the third grade? I still suck my thumb at night!_

He...no, the Organization gave me two options. Work for them, or disappear. Spend the rest of my life as a lab rat. Let them zap my brain to see what happens. Slice me open, find out what make so special...

I took the job.

From what I was told, my assignment sounded easy. During lunch and after school, I walk around the school grounds looking for "closed space."

They explained closed space this way: it's like our world but sort of different. All the buildings but no people, just giant monsters that break stuff. But in closed space, espers like me can use their abilities. (I'm powerless in the outside world.) If I find closed space, I'm supposed to go in and kill any bad things inside.

It's not so bad. I get Sundays off, and I'm not too hungry during the day if I eat a really big breakfast.

It's been three years since I agreed to the contract. I'm in sixth grade now.

* * *

"Be careful, okay?"

"Okay, Mom~"

Waving goodbye, I left for school with my friends. As we walked, the other girls talked about boys and homework and pop idols, but I daydreamed about lunchtime. What if I find more closed space? A week ago, I found a dead rat in the boiler room, but inside the closed space it grew into a huge hairy monster. It was like a fuzzy zombie Godzilla. Anyway, I defeated it and got rid of the closed space. But it was close. When I came home with scratch marks, Mom thought I got in a fight; I told her I fell down the stairs. She didn't believe me. Moms are smart like that.

I woke up from my daydream when my friend pinched my cheek. She said I was spacing off again. Another girl asked me what I was thinking about with such a serious face. I said, "Lunch."

My friends all laughed. I laughed too.

We made it to school in time for the bell.

A few boring class periods later, the bell rang again for lunch hour. While the other students pushed their desks together, I slipped outside.

Every time I do that, Teacher gives me a weird look. Somehow I don't think the teachers know about what the principal is doing here.

My tummy rumbled, but I punched it to keep it quiet. I missed my friends too. It's hard skipping lunch period every day. I can manage, I guess.

I borrowed a steel bat from the sports shed. A weapon to swing while I'm making my rounds. Sure, I have the batting accuracy of an epileptic chimpanzee and the brute strength of a stiff breeze, but I find the weight comforting.

So far today, nothing suspicious. I checked the track, the bleachers, the dugout. "Another slow time," I sighed. "I knew I should've stayed inside."

But I should know better than to say things like that.

Almost in response, the air rippled. I'm serious. The sky rippled like water, and out of the middle of the ripple dropped a black dot. It plopped down in the middle of the baseball diamond.

All my extra senses tingling, I ran toward it.

"Um...are you okay?" I cried, for reasons that seemed logical at the time.

As the dust settled, the thing from the sky stood and looked at me.

It was a cat. It meowed.

I sighed with relief. Putting down the bat, I picked up the scruffy male calico.

"Shami," I scolded, "you're supposed to be at home!"

"Actually, I came to warn you."

* * *

In my time with the Organization, I've seen some pretty weird stuff. Other worlds like ours but with no people. Giant electrical monsters made of negative emotions. Ordinary high school students that can fly, make force fields, and move things without touching them. Like I said, weird stuff.

But I'll never forget the day the cat fell out of the sky and talked to me.

* * *

"There's this thing I'm supposed to warn you about," said the family cat, licking his paw. "It's hunting you. Better watch your back."

"W-w-w-why can you talk, Shami?!" I cried, barely able to hold onto him. "Have you always been able to...?"

The cat swung his dangling back legs. "Look. Think of me as your emergency warning system. That person needed to tell you something, so she sent me. Someone you'd listen to."

"Is that so?" I scratched my head, trying to make sense of it all. "What's this person want to tell me about?"

"That thing behind you right now."

I turned around to look. It was worse than I thought.

For some reason, catcher's masks terrify me. Always have. Makes it scary to watch baseball with Kyon; I don't tell him my secret because he'd laugh at me. It's worst when I play the game and I'm up to bat. How am I supposed to swing at some stupid ball when there's a masked monster sitting behind me, wearing thick flabby armor, with a big round brown mouth where its hand should be? Every time I'm up at the plate, I barely hold back from pummeling the catcher-monster into a greasy smear. So I don't swing. Ever. Every game I strike out.

The mask was behind me. Floating. In midair. Looking right at me. No face or body, but baseballs and bats and bases spinning around the empty mask. Like planets around an evil sun.

The logical side of me figured out that whatever this thing was, it had raided the sports shed. The rest of me, the sensible side, ran screaming.

I threw my bat at it, but it pulled the bat into its orbit.

I didn't turn around to look.

"Aaaaand now he's chasing you!" said Shami, flopped over my shoulder and flapping in the breeze.

"Did I ask you for a play-by-play? Tell me how to get rid of him!"

"Well, doesn't look like running away helps any. He's gaining on ya. Oh. Screaming doesn't work either. Only makes him mad."

"Wahhh..."

Chased by the monster from my nightmares, I ran all over the baseball diamond. I soon ran out of breath. Meanwhile, I wondered if this was a bad dream with the moral that I should've joined the sports club. If it was, I didn't wake up.

But it was weird. Not the running away from possessed athletic equipment, although that was weird too, but the way the air felt thick and soupy. I blinked. Gray sky...

It hit me. Closed space! I'm an esper, not some useless sixth grader! I can fight back!

I stopped running. Shami fell flailing into the dirt. With a deep breath, I turned around.

Espers have different abilities. Some shoot balls of energy from their hands, like a really lame Kamehameha. Others can project avatars into closed space, but that's still pretty useless. As I learned in third grade, I can fire heat-rays from my hands. I don't think it's that impressive. Look out, monsters, here comes Microwave Girl! No TV dinner is safe!

...Yeah.

I aimed my beam of high-frequency waves at the oncoming catcher mask.

"Hi-ya!"

A flying baseball exploded into flame. I did it again, and again, and the aluminum-alloy bats wilted like old flowers. The thing was shielding its center.

I didn't give up.

"Hi-ya!"

I burned a hole in an outfielder's glove before it could clamp over my face.

The thing learned fast. Once it knew I wouldn't be easy prey, it got defensive. The plates fit together like armor to cover up the catcher's mask.

A pair of cleats flew out to kick me in the head, over and over.

"Ow! Ow! That's mean—ow!"

Hands protecting my head, I ducked off the baseball field into the dugout.

To my surprise, there were people down there: two high-school students, a boy and a girl. They wore gym uniforms and had lain where no one could see them. They looked just as surprised to see me.

"Run away!" I cried, "And don't look back! If he catches you, you're dead meat!"

They listened to me and ran away right away.

But they couldn't outrun the baseball barrage. Hit in the head, the high school students dropped unconscious.

Horrified, I ran for them.

When ordinary people get caught in closed space, there's nothing they can do. They can't get out. They can't fight the monsters. That's why there are people like me.

I stepped between them and the thing flying at them. "Don't you dare!" I snapped, feeling cool. "I will be your opponent!"

The thing flew at me, pitching baseballs at record speeds.

I dodged but stood my ground.

Espers, like anybody else, are most powerful when they're protecting something important to them. Like my big brother. When I think, _I won't let this horrible thing hurt Kyon!_, I get more powerful than ever.

With my big brother in mind, I said, "I won't let you hurt anybody else!" And I held out my hands. "L-L-Little Sister Beam!"

Like light concentrated under a magnifying glass, a super-strong heat-ray shot out of my palm. It burned through the catcher's mitt, two crossed bats, and finally pierced the netting of the catcher's mask. It melted like butter.

All the stuff flying around fell down. The sky cleared. The closed space evaporated.

Everything was back to normal.

"Good work, girly," Shami purred from my shoulder.

Almost everything.

Sighing, I dragged the unconscious high school students back to where I found them, in the dugout. Except for a few welts and a lot of questions, they'll be fine.

I plunked down on the bleachers, exhausted.

Shami nudged my face. "Hey, don't relax yet. There's a big fat guy running at you, and he looks pretty steamed!"

From the other side of the baseball diamond, the head coach ran at me, shouting and waving his fist.

Emergency retreat! I got away before he could recognize me.

Once we lost him, I collapsed again under a tree by the playground.

"We sure showed them," Shami said.

"But YOU didn't do anything!"

"Sure I did. I told you when the baddie would show up, and I told you to answer your phone."

"When did—"

My cell phone chirped in my skirt pocket. The Super Sentai theme. I answered it right away, because I knew who it was.

"Hello, supervisor?"

"Good day, agent," said the voice in my ear. High, friendly, and more than a bit creepy. I've never liked my supervisor much. I only follow orders.

"Well done, clearing the closed space from the elementary school campus. Of course, since you're technically in training, we have other agents to monitor you in case you get in too much trouble. Still, you did well.

"However, I have another assignment for you."

I swallowed. Whenever the boss called me directly, the mission was never easy. "Yes...?"

"After school, meet at the shopping mall in town. I'll be waiting for you there. Over and out."

"Wait, I—"

He hung up. I stared at my phone in disbelief. Meeting the supervisor in person?

The bell rang again. Feeling very tired from the fight, I half-walked, half-floated back to homeroom. Shami went home and never spoke to me again.

I slept through afternoon classes.

* * *

Getting nothing done during the day meant I could steal away as soon as school was over.

On my usual evening patrol route, I wandered over to the mall. By the time I got there, the sun was going down. An older boy in a high school uniform sat on a park bench, as promised. At first glance, I knew he was the supervisor. Call it a sixth sense.

When he saw me, he gave an awkward wave. "Yo," he said with a smile. "So glad you could join us. Seems we're in a bit of a pickle."

I recognized him. Koizumi, one of Kyon's friends. An esper? And my supervisor? I couldn't believe it. But I swallowed my nervousness and approached him.

There was a girl next to him. Broad, brown-haired, and dressed in a loud pink ballerina outfit. The girl stood up and curtsied. "Um...good evening, Kyon's sister."

I laughed. "Evening, Mikuru."

Koizumi dropped his thin smile and hunched forward. "Let's get to the point." He folded his hands and twiddled his fingers while he talked.

I braced for the worst.

"Around lunch, Suzumiya summoned the S.O.S. Brigade to announce a shopping trip tonight—fill up the club's armory, restock our emergency rations, that sort of thing. Everyone else could go, but Kyon said he had plans tonight. That didn't go over well. Suzumiya was furious. When she insisted, Kyon caved. He said he could stay for a little while, but that wasn't enough for Suzumiya. She went back to class in a terrible fit." Koizumi chuckled. "It was about that time when trouble started at your school, right?"

"Um...yeah," I said, unable to look away from Koizumi's irksome smirk. Was it glued to his face or something?

"Could you describe it for me? The disturbance, I mean."

"Sure." I looked up at the sunset while I thought back. "It was like a bunch of random stuff moving together, chasing people."

"Random stuff?"

"Sports equipment."

"I see. Interesting. And how did you defeat it?"

At the mention of my victory, I swelled with pride. "I took out the object in the middle of it. Melted it like butter on toast."

"Ugh..." Mikuru kneaded her skirt. "Kyon's little sister is scary, scary..."

"Of course," said Koizumi, patting my head. "She's one of our most valuable agents."

I can't help but blush at that.

Koizumi invites me to sit on the bench between him and Mikuru. "Why don't you explain everything in detail?"

So I did. And I finished with, "And before all that, my cat fell out of the sky and talked to me!"

"Is that so? Interesting." Koizumi was a good listener. He knew how to nod at all the right times.

"Uh-huh. Any idea what it was?"

"What you faced is called a poltergeist type."

"Pol-ter-geist?"

"Precisely. A malevolent entity existing only in closed space—a celestial. While other such entities manifest Suzumiya's destructive emotions, like anger or sorrow, the poltergeist embodies her greed, her possessiveness. Lacking substance of its own, it takes up residence in a physical object. Furthermore, it takes control of other nearby physical objects, using them as weapons to protect its core and defend its territory."

Mikuru squirmed.

"Quite dangerous. It's a miracle you survived. Other agents all over the prefecture are fighting them right now. And the strongest of them all—" Koizumi glanced toward the mall—"is probably in there."

A sudden sinking feeling came over me.

"Where's my brother?"

Koizumi's smile flickered.

Mikuru squeaked. Finally, she answered, "Inside the closed space...with, um...Suzumiya..."

"My theory is," Koizumi continued, "after they went inside, Suzumiya didn't want Kyon to leave. Unintentionally, she used her power to trap them in there. Forever, maybe. Who knows."

Now that I'm grown up and have a real job, I don't cry much anymore. If I do, there'd better be a good reason. Losing my brother forever is the best reason I can think of.

Before the tears even made it out of my eyes, Mikuru wrapped me in a hug. A long, cushy, suffocating hug.

Koizumi laughed nervously. He waited a moment before he went on.

"Asahina and I can't get through the barrier. Nor can any of our other agents. We're not sure how, but when she's inside closed space, Suzumiya blocks out the people she doesn't trust.

"Little sister, I'd like to ask you a favor."

I knew what he'd say. In preparation, I wiped my eyes on my sleeve.

"I'll do it," I said. "I'll do anything!"

Koizumi was serious. "You're the only one who can enter this space. I can't guarantee your safety. Do you accept this mission?"

"Of course!" I cried, bunching my hands into fists. "Let me at 'em!"

My supervisor smiled his unreadable smile. "Very well. In that case, I order you: extract Haruhi Suzumiya and your brother from the closed space. Nagato, if you would."

On the bench across from us sat the quiet girl. I didn't even notice she was there. She stood stiffly and fixed me with her blank stare.

"You wish to enter?"

"Yes, yes," I repeated, getting annoyed.

Yuki didn't blink. "This way."

I followed her to the mall's sliding glass doors. In the lobby, people tired of shopping or just plain tired could sit down to eat. Others threw coins in the fountain. Or, as one man did, tried to collect the coins in the fountain without getting caught by security.

Yuki tapped my shoulder. "Ready?"

"How many times do I have to say yes?"

"As you wish."

Yuki chanted unintelligible gibberish, faster and faster until her lips blurred. _What is she doing_?_ Is she an esper too_? Before I could ask, she shoved me through the doors.

I slipped through an invisible curtain. The mall was dark, empty, quiet. The shops were open, so the store wasn't closed. Back through the glass doors, I couldn't see Yuki, Koizumi, or Mikuru. And the doors were locked. I was stuck. Great.

No place to go but straight ahead.

I crept into the lobby, watching every shadow. Some of them moved.

"Hello?" I called, only for the comfort of a friendly, familiar voice.

Finally, I found Kyon and Haruhi. Slumped on a bench, their eyes closed, their heads leaned against one another. I was relieved.

Then I heard _it_.

It started as an annoying noise in the background. Quickly it grew louder, rumbling closer like a runaway bullet train. I turned around and saw it.

The poltergeist rattled toward me.

A cluster of cast-iron skillets made up its middle, handles sticking out from the armored heart. Around it spun pots, pans, and a collection of novelty cooking knives.

It found me. I ran, and it chased me.

I fled into a hardware store, poltergeist in hot pursuit. It picked up things along the way. Wrenches. Screwdrivers. Scary tools I couldn't name. When I got within range, the poltergeist threw parts of its body at me. If they missed, the floating ball of death rolled by to pick up the thrown stuff.

I had to get away. Failing that, I limped into a clothing store. (Ever take a sledgehammer to the knee?) That place was worse. Disembodied sweaters tried to hug me to death. I fought my way out with tooth and nail, and burned through a few fashion disasters along the way.

I crashed through a tea salon, a china shop, a computer store. I clambered up the stairs, still feeling the burn from the morning's workout.

The poltergeist swept through the mall like a capitalistic tornado.

It wanted me. Why did it want me? Am I really a threat?

_Yes. Yes, exactly._

I'm the outsider. The alien. The intruder into Suzumiya's private world. That's why she wants me gone. That's why a poltergeist attacked me at school, why other espers are fighting these things all over the city. It's all my fault. It's not fair. I only wanted an evening with my brother, and his overly attached girlfriend had to make everything worse for everybody!

Normally I fix these kinds of problems, not make them worse.

Somehow I managed to think all this as I fled for my life.

As I bravely ran away, I shot heat rays back at my pursuer. Often I missed entirely, or at best warmed up a skillet. The monster's parts clanged together, a metallic battle shout.

Hopeless. The more I ran away, the stronger it got. By now, it had crashed through so many shops it couldn't even fit through a doorway. I hid behind a counter in the food court. The poltergeist waited outside, tossing knives and flowerpots at the wall above my head, dusting my hair with rubble.

Part of me would've liked to have stayed there. Scared, hiding. But my brain never stopped working. _Think. How can I stop this thing?_

_I can't._ I knew that. Not strong enough, never strong enough. I had a flashlight when I needed a flamethrower.

YOU can't, said my brain, which is much smarter than me. But SHE can.

Suddenly I knew what to do.

I leaped out of hiding and ran back to where I started.

Haruhi. The answer was always Haruhi. She started this, she'd finish it!

Not giving up, the poltergeist threw a chair at me. With a lucky shot I reduced the chair to smoking chunks.

"Hi...ya," I gasped wearily, for old times' sake.

As I slid down the escalator handrail, the poltergeist clamored after me, scattering clutter in its wake.

_Please make it in time, make it in time..._

It was as bad as I feared. Woken by the racket, Kyon nudged Haruhi awake. She sat up, blinked twice, and fell back to sleep.

The monster roared, banging its pots and pans together. Its knife-teeth nipped at my heels. I outran it, barely.

My brother saw me coming. His face filled with utter disbelief, at me and the thing behind me.

"Kyon!" I cried, "HELP ME!"

His mouth dropped open slightly.

The poltergeist hit the ground floor with a tremendous crash. Huge and heavy, it lumbered toward me, dragging furniture and wastebaskets behind its body.

Only I stood between this thing and my friends.

"Get back!" I shouted, both to my brother and the monster at hand. Circling around, I lured it away from Kyon.

"What's going on?"

Haruhi watched beside Kyon, her expression a mix of glee and awe. "Look at that, Kyon! Your sister's fighting some...thing! Is she a Magical Girl? A witch? Or maybe...an alien?!"

"Now's not the time!"

Kyon cupped his hands to his mouth. "Hey, ugly! This way! Yeah, YOU, monster! Kleptomaniac! Shoplifter!"

"What are you doing?!" Haruhi cried.

"Exactly what it looks like," said Kyon, scowling in concentration. "Hey, you! Leave my sister alone!"

The poltergeist paused. It turned toward the noise.

"That's right!" Kyon shouted, grinning. "Come at me, you hideous-"

A teapot smashed against Kyon's head. He collapsed.

"KYON!"

Haruhi fell to her knees. She shook him. "Kyon! _Kyon_!"

Suddenly, the poltergeist left me alone. It rushed past me, toward them.

I sprinted. Just in time, I blocked it from my friends.

"I won't let you hurt anyone," I said, "least of my all my brother!"

Haruhi raised her fist. "That's right, you tell him! You can do it, little sister!"

I felt the power swell inside me. I raised my hands. "Little-Sister-Protecting-Stupid-Big-Brother Beam!"

There was a faint glow.

An explosion of sheer heat erupted from my palms, catching the very air on fire. A raging inferno burst from my hands and struck down the colossus. Hundreds of flying objects disappeared into the fire. The poltergeist's body parts dropped one by one, burning bright, the skillets last of all. When the armored heart fell away, all that remained was a fluffy brown teddy bear, slightly singed. It fell as well.

My memory became a bit blurry after that.

I remember it was hot and bright. I felt tired, couldn't feel my legs, and suddenly was looking right at the ceiling. A girl's voice. After that, nothing.

* * *

When my eyes opened again, my head lay in a warm lap. Mikuru. How long had I been out? The sky was dark, and Mikuru had already dozed off.

I heard boys' voices talking.

"...were in there so long, we fell asleep."

"I see. An alternate passage of time. Interesting."

"Nagato's already gone home, I see."

"Yes. I suspect she was behind a certain talking cat, but I never got around to asking her."

"What?"

"Nothing. Never mind it."

My brother sighed. "So, genius, what do you make of this mess?"

"From what I've gathered, you could say everything that happened today is your fault."

"Eh? Mine? ...Again?"

"Precisely. Suzumiya decided today was a special day, but you foiled her intentions. So she bent the world to fit her plan. Judging by what you've said, it worked. Exactly how many hours were you trapped together?"

"Not going there. Is my sister okay?"

"She's fine."

Another pause. I sensed them looking at me. "How does she fit into this? Why was she even here?"

"Excellent question. She's at the center of it. You see, Suzumiya already monopolized your evening, but you'd already promised your sister. Your choice of priorities aggravated Suzumiya. On the outside, she complied. But her subconscious mind lashed out against your precious little sister."

"Good lord. What happened?"

"An incident. Fortunately, an agent was present to protect her." Koizumi covered a chuckle with a cough. "Her id got the better of her, and created monsters."

"Ah, monsters of the id. Just like in _Forbidden Plan_—"

"Be glad that you escaped unscathed."

"I don't get it," Kyon murmured. "Why does Haruhi want to spend so much time with me?"

"You still haven't figured it out?"

That seemed like a good time to wake up. I took in a deep breath and stretched.

Kyon put his hand on my head. "Yo, sleepyhead. You've napped long enough. Ready to go home yet?"

Koizumi laughed. "It's been a long day for all of us, hasn't it?"

"Not long enough yet," Kyon muttered.

At this exact moment, Haruhi Suzumiya stomped out of the mall. "THIS SUCKS! Biggest shopping center in town, and they don't have a thing I want. What's the problem with these people? Touch base with your customers already! Seriously!" She harrumphed. "Next time I'll save my money."

With a superior scowl, Haruhi plopped down her many shopping bags. "Kyon. Carry these for me."

He wasn't amused. "And why should I?"

"Cause it's your fault we had to rush. I had to make some difficult decisions."

"Your snap decisions will break my back or my wallet first."

"Hmph!" Haruhi folded her arms and stuck up her nose. "Did you get anything for me?"

Kyon looked as blank as Yuki. After a moment of fumbling, he held out a small brown bag. "Here. I didn't see anything I wanted either, so I got this for you."

Squinting in suspicion, Haruhi snatched it from him. She turned around and peered inside. "Kyon." She took out a fluffy brown teddy bear. Her eyes bored into his.

"It's...PERFECT!" She spun around, pressing the stuffed animal to her chest. "It's so horribly tacky it's actually cute! Exactly what I wanted! This would look great in my r..."

Kyon grinned crookedly. "You like it that much~?"

"IN THE CLUB ROOM!" She smacked Kyon across the face with her new teddy. Turning away from him, she coddled the bear and whispered, "We'll call him Mr. Chuckles, and he'll sit on top of the chalkboard, and be our official secretary!" Her bright smile was blinding.

"Good to hear it," Kyon said. "Never knew you liked this sort of thing. If you only showed this side of you more often, you might—"

"YOU IDIOT!"

Waving the stuffed animal, Haruhi yelled, "What were you thinking? That I'd appreciate a stupid, thoughtless waste of money like THIS? You really take me for that? Idiot!" She stormed off. "You'll pay for this!"

"I already did."

She ignored him. "Club room, tomorrow, after school. Be there." And she was gone.

Even if she complained, I noticed she kept the gift.

Kyon slumped on the bench. He let out a long sigh.

A little later, he woke Mikuru. Muttering goodbye, she sleepily stumbled home.

He turned to me. "You next."

"Kyon...I'm too tired to walk..."

"All right then." Without another word, he hoisted me up onto his back. I didn't complain. I was too worn out to say much anyway.

We walked quietly awhile.

"Say, Kyon."

"Mm?"

"Do you believe in them? Aliens, time travelers...espers?"

"What kind of question is that?" He sighed. "Well, it's a big world. Anything can happen, I suppose. I didn't believe in anything supernatural, but now I'm not so sure. Every day I believe a little more of the impossible."

"Oh."

"It's getting late, what time is it? ...Crap!"

"What?"

"It's 8:13 already. Hang in there, sis! We'll run you back in time to finish Super Hentai. FULL POWER...!"

"I told you already, it's Su-per-Se-n-tai..."

I love my brother. Enough to risk everything for him.

That's what gets me through lunch period and long nights of patrol.

Who knows? I might tell him one day.

But it can wait.


End file.
